Film handling mechanism



April 17, 1934. w1. WRIGHT 1,955,160

FILM HANDLING MECHANISM April 175 1934. w. L wR1GHT- 1,955,160

FILM HANDLNG MECHANISM Filed Jan. 14. 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @wwwPatented Apr. 17, 1934 Y l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Y 1,955,160 FILMHANDLING MECHANISM Walter L. Wright, Santa Monica, Calif., assignor toSynchrome Corporation, Los Angeles County, Calif., a corporation ofCalifornia Application January 14, 1931, Serial No. 508,639

13 Claims. (Cl. 88-16.4)

This invention relates to a film handling mech- Fig. 1 is a sideelevation of the mechanism proanism, and has particular reference to amechvided by the invention showing the parts in posianism useful incameras, and the like. tion where the film is piloted and clamped in 5In certain photographic processes, for instance, position. Fig. 2 is asectional view of the mech- 60 in the production of color motionpictures, it is anism, being a section taken substantialhr on desired todefinitely locate and set a plurality of line 2-2 On Fig- 3 and ShOWingthe parte pOSlspaced parts of a fllm in order toobtain a pluralitionedas shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse ty of definitely-locatedexposures simultaneoussectional view taken through the pilot pins at lyon a lm. This cannot be accomplished with two of the apertures andShowing the parts in the 1 ordinary film-handling mechanisms because ofvaposition illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 is a 5 nations whichoccur in nlm due to shrinkage and detailed view of a portion of theparts shown in expansion. Fig. 2 showing the parts operated so that thefllm It is an object of the present invention to proiS free t0 beadvaneed- Fig- 5 iS a View ShOWlng vide a mechanism that will accuratelylocate and a portion of the mechanism latehed out of op- -efrectivelyhold a plurality Vof spaced parts of a eration. Fig. 6 is a viewillustrating the cam of 7 film. The positioning of the nlm by themechathe mechanism, being a view taken substantially nism of my presentinvention is not affected by Online 6-6 0n Fig- 3. Fig- 7 iS a Viewtaken Subvariations in the film due to shrinkage or ex- Stantially 8Sindicated byline 7-7 0n Fig- 2. dnd.

pension, Figs. 8 and 9 are views illustrating the pilot pins of It isanother object of the invention to provide the mechanisma mechanism inwhich the hlm is carried freely by The meehanism provided by thisinvention 1S the advancing means, so that free parts or slight intendedprimarily t0 handlea length 0f film S0 loops may occur between the heldparts when the that it is intermittently advanced and, when notmechanism operates to hold the nlm in set posiin motion, is definitelypositioned at a plurality tion, of spaced points and is clamped or heldfirmly at Another object of the invention is to provide a said points.The mechanism is applicable, sensimple, effectivefeand improvedcombination of erlly, t0 Hlm-handling mechanisms, however,` itfilm-piloting means and nlm-clamping means. iS particularly useful aSapplied t0 a Camera and,

In the mechanism provided by this invention, therefore, `I will proceedwith a detailed descripthe film-piloting means and clamping means aretion of the invention embodied in a camera. mechinterconnectedto operatein proper time relaaniSm.

tion, the mechanism ,fbeing extremely simple, The mechanism includes.generally, an aperture effective', and dependab1e, plate 10, means 11for advancing a fllm F with Another object of the invention is toprovide reference to the aperture plate 10, pilot means 12' afilm-handling mechanism including film-pilotfOr definitely locating 0l'positioning spaced parts ing means land film clamping means having a 0fthe film at the apertures 0f the plate 10. Clamp single or commonoperating means. means 13 at the apertures of the plate 10 for Itisafurther object of the invention to proclamping or holding the fllm'atthe apertures vide a mechanism of the character just mentioned after ithas been positioned by the'DllOt means 40 in which the film-pilotingmeans and film-clamp- 12, operating means 14 for the pilot means and 95ing means are operated by a. single cam. clamp means, and various otherparts the details A further object of the present invention is to andfunctions of which will be hereinafter set provide an effective andnovel combination of forth.

` ,film-advancing means and film-piloting means. The aperture plate 10is mounted .stationary In the mechanism of the invention, the filmin thecamera case 16, for instance, it may be 100 .advancing means and thefilm-piloting means are held by a flange 15 projecting from a wall ofthe both effective and dependable in their action on case. The plate l0has a face 17 over which a the film and do not in any way interfere withor length of film is adapted to operate, and has a impair each othersaction. plurality of longitudinally-spaced apertures A,

Other objects and features of my invention will B, and C. In the form ofthe invention illus- 105 be best and more fully understoodfrom thefoltrated, the aperture plate 10 is curved about a lowing detaileddescription of a typical form and center; The face 17 over which thefilm operapplication of the invention, throughout which ates is theouter side or face of the plate. In the description reference is had tothe accompanying particular case illustrated, the film F is adapteddrawings, in whichzto be exposed to light projected outwardly no tallowing the nlm to' be through the `apertures A, B, and C. For purposeof example, I have illustrated an optical system in connection with themechanism, the system including a lens device 18 through which lightenters thespace within the aperture plate, and crossed light dividers 19Within the aperture plate which operate to allow a shaft of light topass through them and through the aperture B onto the nlm F and operateto renect oi shafts of light to pass through the apertures A and C tofall on the nlm F.

It is to 'be understood that the present invention is concernedprimarily'- with the nlmhandling mechanism and that various opticalsystems may be employed in connection with the mechanism.

In the construction illustrated one edge of the aperture plate 10 isconnected with the nange 15, while the other edge 20 is free andterminates so that the perforated margin portion of the nlm overhangs orprojects beyond the plate. 'I'his arrangement is clearly illustrated inFig. 3 of the drawings.

'I'henlm-advancing means 11 is designed to engage the nlm and to beoperated to intermittently advanceY the nlm with reference to theaperture plate 10. In accordance with the preferred form of theinvention, the nlm-advancing means engages the nlm throughout asubstantial portion of its length, in fact, throughout the filmcarryingportion of the aperture plate. 'I'he nlmadvancing means may be in theform of a single sprocket wheel 21 mounted concentric with the apertureplate and having nlm-engaging teeth 22 23 of a movement mechanism, whichmechanism'l may be contained in a housing 24 within the camera case 16.In accordance with thepresent invention, the teeth 22 of the sprocketw'heel -21 project beyond the face 17 of the apertugeplate,

in order to engage the nlm F, andare spaced to engage spacedperforations in the nlm. In the preferred arrangement, the teeth 22 arespaced to engage every other perforation. of the nlm. Further, inaccordance with my invention, the teeth 22 are designed and proportionedso that they nt freely in the perforations of the nlm, thus effectivelypositioned by the pilot means 12. l

The pilot'means 12 operates to dennitely position the parts of the nlmat the apertures A, B, and C. The means 12 includes, generally, pilotpins for engaging and positioning thenlm at the apertures, and carriersfor the pilot pins. In the preferred form of the invention, I providetwo pilot pins at each aperture, one to engage each marginof the nlm.'I'he two pilot pins at each aperture may be supported by a singlecarrier 25 pivotally supported on a nxed shaft 26. In the designillustrated, each carrier 25 has two arms 27 which carry the pilot pins28 and 29.

'Ihe pilot pins 28 and 29 are designed to position the nlm at anaperture both laterally and longitudinally. In practice, both pilot pinsmay be designed to engage the nlm to position it in both directions, orone pin may be designed to position the nlm in one direction and theother pin designed to position the nlmin the other direction. In thecase illustrated, the pin 28 is designed to position the nlmlongitudinally, While acam follower. The clamp means at each aperture isrelated the pin 29 is designed to position the nlm longitudinally andalso laterally. To position the nlm only longitudinally, the pin 28 isdesigned toengage only the ends of a nlm perforation. The pin 29,beingdesigned to position the nlm in both directions, is shaped toengage the ends and also the sides of a `nlm perforation. It will beobserved from the drawings that the nxed shafts 26, on which the pilotpin carriers are mounted, are located so that the pilot pins occur atabout the centers of the apertures in the plate 10 and may be moved intoand out of. engagement with the nlm by slight oscillation of thecarriers.

The shafts 26, which support the pilot pin carriers 25, may be heldbetween a partition or nxed part 30 in the camera case 16, and a framemember 31. l

The clamping means 13 engages the nlm F at the aperture plates after thenlm has been positioned bythe pilot pins, so that the nlm is held nrmlyduring the interval of exposure. The means 13 includes a nlm-clampingplate 32 at each aperture in the plate 10. The plates 32 are designed toclamp the nlm to the face 19 of the aperture plate around the aperturesin the plate. The plates are mounted for movement into and out ofclamping engagement with the nlm. For instance, in the case illustrated,each plate is carried by arms 33 pivotally supported on a nxed shaft 34.The shafts 34 extend between the part 30 in the camera case and theframe 31. The clamping faces or margins 35 of the plates- 32 are curvedconcentric with the face 17 of the aperture plate and the mountings ofthe plates are such that the plates 32, when actuated as shown in Figs.1, 2, and 3 of thedrawings, nt and clamp the nlm tightly against theface 17 of the aperture plate.

The pilot pins and clamp plate at each aperture in the plate 10 areinterconnected to operate so that the pilot pins immediatelyprecede theclamp plate in engaging the nlm F. Further, in the preferred formv ofthe invention, the operating means 14 is preferably a single orcommonoperating means acting to operate both the I,pilot means andclamping means. In 'the construction illustrated, a rod 40 is carried byeacliipiltfpin carrier so that vit is located intermediate 'the ends ofthe armsl 27, extends parallel with the mounting shaft 26 of thecarrier, and projects from one side of the carrierto form to the pilotpins at the aperture through engagement of the arms 33 carrying theclamp plate with the rod 40 in connection with the pin carrier. Themounting shafts 26 and 34 are located or related so that the pin carrierand clamp plate at each aperture project toward each other and overlapthe ends of the arms 33 carrying the plate 32, being yoked to formopenings 44 which receive'the-rod 40. 'I'he parts just referred-to areclearly illustratedin Figs. 1,'4, 5,

and 7 from which ngures it will be apparent that these parts `areproportioned so that the pilot pins engage the nlm to position it withreference to theaperture just before the clamp plate reaches the nlm toclamp it to the aperture plate.

' The operatingmeans for the-parts just described Yinclude springs 46engaging the rods 40 to normally yieldably urge them in a direction,sothat the pilot.pins and clamp vmeans-operatively engage the nlm F, anda single cam 47 rotatably mounted concentric lwith the aperture plateand provided with projections 48 to cooper'- ate with the parts of therods which form cam followers. 'I'he rods 40 project from the pilot pincarriers into the path of the projections 48, the projecting parts ofthe rods carrying rollers 49 which are engaged by the projections 48. Asthe cam,47 revolves, projections 48 engage the rods of the several pilotpin carriers to operate the pilot pin carriers and the arms carrying theclamp plates 32, so that the film F is released at all pointssimultaneously. During the period that the pilot pins and clamp platesare released from the film through the cooperation of the projections48. and the cam followers, the film-advancing sprocket operates toadvance the film with reference to the aperture plate. It will beobvious how the cam 47 may be operated to drive .in Ldefinite timerelation with reference to the movement or film-advancing sprocket 21.In the l case illustrated, the cam is shown driven from a constantlyrotating shaft 50, coming from the movement mechanism 24, through apinion 5l on the shaft 50, and a gear 52 formed on the cam. It will beobvious that the shaft 5K0 may be suitably geared with theintermittently-moving shaft 23 by mechanism within the housing 24 of themovement mechanism. It is also to be .understood that in the case of acamera a suitable shutter is provided, which shutter is timed withreference to the other parts, so that light is cutoff when the film isin motion.

In the construction illustrated, spring catches 60 are carried by theframe 3l to engage sockets 61 in the ends of the rods 40 when it isdesired to hold the pilot' pins and clamp plates in position away fromthe film. These catches are provided so that the mechanism can bereadily set in position so that the film can be threaded into themechanism. It is also-to be noted that the parts above described arerelated or synchronized so that the pilot pins engage perforations inthe film occurring between the teeth 22 of the film-advancing sprocket.

From the foregoing description it will be obvious how the mechanismhandles a film to intermittently -advance it with reference to theaperture plate and when it is at rest causes it to be definitelypositioned at the several apertures, and then clamped firmly in setposition. In accordance with the invention, the parts are designed sothat the film is more or less loose when the advancing movement iscompleted, so that it is free to be centered or definitely positioned bythe pilot pins. By designing the teeth of the advancing sprocket so thatthey fit perforations in the film with clearance, the film is allowedfreedom or looseness, so that it can be definitely positioned by thepilot pins.

Having described only a typical preferred form of my invention, I do notwish to limitv myself to the specific details set forth, but wish toreserve to myself any changes or variations that may appear to thoseskilled in the art or fall within the scope of the following claims:

Having described my invention, I claim:

l. A film-handling mechanism .including, a plate in which a film mayoperate, the plate being curved about a center and having a plurality ofapertures, a film-advancing sprocket for engaging a film at the severalapertures to intermittently advance it, the sprocket being substantiallyconcentric with the plate, and means for positioning and holding thefilm at theapertures, the teeth of the sprocket being proportioned andrelated to the perforations of the film so that the film is free to loopbetween the apertures.

'plate having a plurality of apertures, a nlm-advancing sprocket havingteeth for cooperating with perforations in a film at the severalapertures to intermittently advance it, and means for positioning andholding the lm at the apertures, the teeth of the sprocket being shapedand proportionedso that the. cooperation of the teeth with theperforations in the film is such that the film is free to loopbetweenthe apertures, the lastmentioned means including pins engaging the filmto position spaced parts of the nlm at the apertures and clampsforholding the positioned film parts at the apertures.

3. A film-handling mechanism including, a plate having a plurality ofapertures, a film-advancing sprocket having teeth for cooperating withperforations in a film at the plate to intermittently advance it, theteeth of the sprocket being spaced to engage spaced perforations of thefilm, and means for positioning and holding the film at the apertures,the teeth of the sprocket being shaped and proportioned so that thecooperation of the teeth with perforations is such that the film is freeto loop between the apertures, the last-mentionedl means including pinsvengaging the film to position spaced parts of the film at the aperturesand clamps for holding the positioned film parts at the apertures, thesaid pins engaging perforations in the film between those engaged by theteeth of the sprocket.

4. A film-handling mechanism including, a plate having a surface curvedabout a center and over which the film operates and having a pluralityof apertures, al single film-advancing sprocket substantially concentricwith the said surface for engaging a film at the several apertures tointermittently advance it, and means for positioning and holding thefilm at the apertures, the teeth of the sprocket being shaped andproportioned with relation to the perforations of the film to have freeengagement with the perforations so that the film is free to loopbetween the apertures.

5. A film-handling mechanism including, a plate having a pluralityofapertures, a nlm-advancing` sprocket having teeth for engagingperforations in the film at the apertures to intermittently advance it,the said teeth being spaced to engage spaced perforations, and means forpositioning and holding the film at the apertures including a pilot pinat each aperture to engage and position the film, a clamp plate at eachaperture to clamp the film, and means interconnecting the pilot pin andclamp plate so that the pilot pin operates ahead of the clamp plate, thesaid pins engaging perforations in the film between those engaged by theteeth of the sprocket.

6. A filmfhandling mechanism including, a plate having a plurality ofapertures, a film-advancing means for engaging the film at the severalapertures to intermittently advance it, and means for positioning and'holding the film at the apertures including a pilot pin `at eachaperture apertures and supporting a film with one of its perforatedmargins projecting beyond one edge of the plate, a film-advancingsprocket con'centric with the plate and adjacent said edge of the plateto engage the lm, the teeth of the sprocket being spaced to engagespaced perforations of the iilm and tting loosely into the perforationsof the lilm, pilot pins engaging the fllm at the perforations betweenthe teeth of the sprocket, and clamp .plates operating to clamp the lmfollowing operation of the pins. l

8. A nlm-handling mechanism including, `a

curved lm guiding plate having a plurality ofapertures and supporting atllm with one of its perforated margins projecting beyond one edge'ofthe plate, a film-advancing sprocket concentric with the plate andadjacent said edge of the plate to engage the illm,`the teeth of thesprocket being v spaced to engage spaced perforations of the :illm andfitting loosely into the perforations of the lm, pi1ot pins engaging thelm at the perforations between the teeth' of the sprocket, the pilotpins engaging the llm to position it longitudinally and laterally.

9. A film-handling mechanism including, a

plate having a plurality of apertures, nlm-advancing means for engagingthe lm at the Aplate to intermittently advance it, and means forpositioning and holding the iilm at the apertures including a pilot pinat each aperture to engage and position the film, a .clamp plate at eachaperture to clamp the film, interconnected pivotal mount- Y ings for thepin and plate, means normally yieldings for the pin and plate, a springacting through the mountings to normally yieldingly urge the pin andclamp plate into engagement with the lm, and a cam operable to move thepin and clamp plate out of i'llm engagement.

11. A nlm-handling mechanism including, a plate having a plurality ofapertures, nlm-advancing means for engaging the film at the plate tointermittently advance it, and means for positioning and holding the lmat the apertures including a pilot pin at each aperture to engage andposition the lm, a clamp plate at each aperture to clamp the lm,interconnected pivotal mountings for the pin'and plate, means normallyyieldingly urging the pin and clamp plate into engagement with the lm,and a cam engaging one of the mountings to move the pin and clamp plateout of lm engagement.

12. A nlm handling mechanism including, a plate having a plurality ofapertures, a single sprocket for engaging a lm at the apertures tointermittently advance the lm along the plate,- the iilm engaging teethof the sprocket being shaped and proportioned with relation to theperforations of the rllm so that the lm is free to loop between theapertures, and means for positioning and holding the lm at theapertures, the said means including pilot pins engaging the film toposition spaced parts of the lm at the apertures, clamps for engagingthe positioned -parts of the film, and a single operating means for thepins and clamps.

13. A lm handling mechanism including, a plate having a plurality ofapertures, a single sprocket for engaging a lm at the apertures tointermittently advance the lm along the plate, the lm engaging teeth ofthe sprocket being shaped and proportioned with relation to theperforations of the lm so that the lm is free to loop between theapertures, and means for positioning and holding the lm at theapertures, the said means including pilot pins engaging the lm toposition spaced parts of the film at the.

apertures, clamps for engaging the positioned parts of the 'lm, and asingle cam operating the pins and clamps.

WALTER L. WRIGHT.

